What a Night
by CBloom2
Summary: The wedding night goes from bad to worse for our favourite brothers.
1. Chapter 1

**Two weeks until the next episode! I know we've been spoilt but - two weeks!**

 **This is a bit AU taking bits for A Childs Heart and tweaking them to suit me, so they won't be exactly the same as the episode.**

 **Need to do something to fill the two weeks.**

 **As you well know, I don't own anyone that you recognise - if I did they would have had a hug already!**

 **What a Night**

Ethan Hardy thought that the night couldn't get any worse...the explosion at the wedding, saving Zoe, Charlie's heart attack, Dylan's meltdown, irrate husbands - he'd seen it all, but this - this could actually send him over the edge!

Not ten minutes ago, he had sent his pregnant patient upstairs to be treated, thankful that they had been able to help her in time. When she had gone, he told a returning Robyn that he was going to get a quick drink and something to eat as he hadn't had anything in hours and he was beginning to feel a little light headed. He noticed that the young nurse seemed distracted, and she had tried to assure him that she was ok, but failed miserably.

"Robyn, come on, what's wrong? You can tell me. Tonight has been tough but Zoe and Charlie are going to be alright and..."

At that, Robyn had burst into tears, "Oh Ethan, it's Cal..." she burst out.

Ethan had been confused, "What do you mean?"

Seeing Robyn's terrified expression had made Ethan's stomach churn, what had happened to his brother?

"I'm not supposed to say anything..."

"Robyn, please, what's happened to my brother?" he had demanded, in a tone not usually associated with the mild mannered doctor.

"He's been treating a stab victim - gang stuff...someone's got a gun..."

Ethan hadn't let her finish before he dashed off towards Resus, where he saw a small group of people stood - tension radiating from them. Ethan had pushed his way through to the window, gasping at the scene in front of him. His brother was treating his patient, with the help of Lily, while a young man around the same height as Cal was pointing a gun at him, demanding that he save the patients life!

 **So that was chapter 1. Probably a couple of chapters to go. Let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my goodness, you are all amazing! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I wasnt' sure you'd like it with it just being a small chapter! I'm sure you know how much it means to me and you Casualty fans are the best!**

 **Another shortish chapter - hope it makes sense.**

Chapter 2

Ethan gazed into the room for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few seconds.

"Dr Hardy, you shouldn't be here," he heard the quiet, calm tone of his clinical lead.

His sensible half knew that he shouldn't be there, but the brother half of him was not going anywhere.

"I'm not leaving Mrs Beauchamp," he told her in no uncertain terms.

"Ok," she whispered as she patted his back in a gesture of understanding.

"What are you doing to get them out?" He demanded, frantically looking from one person to another.

"We are weighing up our options," one of the detectives told him.

"Weighing up your options? That's my brother and friend in there - they are trying to save a life with a gun pointed at their heads!" he all but yelled furiously as he turned back to the window - fear coursing through him.

 _"What do you mean, you need to move him?"_ They heard yelled from inside Resus, as the man with the gun moved round to Cal's side.

Ethan tensed, sensing trouble.

 _"We've stabilised him but he needs surgery,"_ Cal explained as calmly as he could.

 _"No! He's not going anywhere! You do it here!"_

 _"I'm not a surgeon. If he doesn't go to surgery, he'll die! Is that what you want?"_

 _"Let me phone the surgeon on call,"_ they heard Lily suggest, as the gunman got right into Cal's face, _"If he dies, you die - got it?"_

Cal flinched as the gunman slapped him across the face, causing the younger doctor to flinch also.

The gunman whipped round to face Lily, "Call him!" He told her.

Ethan felt the blood drain from his own face, seeing his brother and friend in such danger. He went for the door, but was pulled back by Jacob, "Don't," the nurse told him, his face full of sympathy.

On hearing the commotion outside, the gunman turned and pointed the gun at the door.

Cal looked towards the door, shocked to see Ethan so close to the danger, then Ethan caught his eye. The younger doctor suddenly had a strong urge to cry. He had never seen his brother look so scared before. This was his cocky big brother laid bare - vulnerable, scared - and Ethan almost couldn't cope with that.

Cal sent him a subtle nod of the head, to reassure him that he was ok. Ethan smiled back at him as best he could, as Lily joined his brother once more after finishing her call.

Then an idea struck him.

He dashed off, much to the surprise of the others around him and returned a few minutes later, his green scrubs covered with a white coat.

 **So have you got any idea what Ethan is about to do? Stay tuned...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Once again you've blown me away with all your positive comments to this story - you are all so kind. One or two have guessed what Ethan is going to do. Not sure I've conveyed the tension etc in this but hopefully I have.**

Chapter 3

"Ethan, what on earth are you doing?" Connie demanded looking shocked.

"I'm sorry Mrs Beauchamp, but I can't just stand here while my brother and one of my closest friends are in danger," he told her as he buttoned up the coat. Then, sucking in a deep breath, with his back to the door and one last look at his boss, he kicked open the door.

"Dr Hardy!"  
"Dr Hardy?"

Two people said his name at the same time. One stern, the other shocked.

"Did someone call for a surgeon?" He asked, spinning around to face the scene.

He quickly glanced at Cal and Lily, who were actually speechless. The gunman, however, soon got over the shock, "That was quick! She only just called you. What's going on? What are you up to?"

Ethan realised the flaw in his plan, but quickly managed to cover it up, "I was just coming on shift when my pager went off..." he lied.

The gunman decided that he didn't believe him and roughly began to search him for any weapons. Cal took a step forward, but Ethan subtly shook his head as he took another deep breath, adrenaline coursing through his body, "I don't have anything on me," he told the irrate man.

"Where's your pager then?"

Ethan began to pat himself down, "Oh goodness me - what did I do with it? I had it with me, obviously, but now I haven't got it...I must have mislaid it...I..."

"Ok, ok, enough. You sure you're a surgeon? You look to young..." the gunman asked as he stared at him.

Ethan smiled, "Well, that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Even in the face of danger, Cal couldn't help but roll his eyes at his brother's attempt at humour.

"Well are you going to look at him or not?" the gunman demanded.

"Yes of course...erm I don't know your name," Ethan told him.

"Why do you want to know my name?"

"I think it's only proper to know the name of the person to whom I am talking to," Ethan replied, trying to keep his anxiety under control.

"Rob, my name is Rob," he told him, eyeing the young doctor suspiciously.

"Well hello Rob, I'm Dr Hardy and who is it that I'm treating?"

"Tony...he's my big brother," Rob told him sadly.

"Ah, now I see why you're so protective. Do you belong to a gang Rob?"

"So what if we do? What's it to do with you?" he began to get agitated again. Ethan held up his hands to calm him, "Nothing, absolutely nothing - I am sorry I asked - so let's take a look at Tony then shall we?" he finished, bringing the young man's attention back to the man on the bed.

Ethan made his way to where Cal was stood, still watching him with a mixture of amazement and fury. He spent a couple of minutes going over what Cal had already done, plus a few extra checks of his own, to make it look like he knew what he was doing. He was thankful that Rob was not watching him to closely so that he wouldn't see his shaking hands, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he heard his brother hiss into his ear.

"Actually...I haven't got a clue!" He gave him a wry smile, "All I know is that they weren't doing anything to get you out. I couldn't stand by and do nothing..." he whispered back.

"So what's the plan?" Cal asked.

"Who said anything about a plan!" Ethan smiled as Cal blew out a frustrated breath.

"What are you talking about?" Rob shouted as he dashed towards the two brothers.

"I'm discussing Dr Knight's diagnosis - and I agree that Tony definitely needs to go to surgery, to stand a chance of surviving."

"He's not going anywhere. The police will be all over us if we move and that's not happening!" Ethan saw the desperation on Rob's face. It was obvious to him that the whole thing had gotten completely out of control, "You are going to do it here!"

Ethan moved from Cal's side, "Rob, we haven't got the right equipment in here, it would be much safer in theatre," the young doctor tried to explain.

Rob began to move from one foot to the other, his eyes darting from each person in the room, then out of the window, trying to weigh up his options, "You don't really have a choice," Lily joined in.

For some reason, hearing her voice made Rob snap. He barged over to her, put his arm around her and held the gun to her head. She couldn't help the scream that escaped from her lips. Both Ethan and Cal moved forward, but were stopped in their tracks when he pushed the mouth of the gun even harder into her temple, "You're going to do it here!" he told them.

Ethan rubbed his forehead, desperately trying to come up with something that would save Lily.

Ethan took a tentative step forward, with his hands raised, "Ok look Rob - your brother is in a bad way. I will see what I can do here, in this room, but I need you to do something for me first...please let Dr Chao go. I only need Dr Knight - let Dr Chao go and I promise you that I'll do the best that I can," he told him sincerely.

Rob began to think about it, but was interuppted by the alarms on the monitors. Cal and Ethan began checking Tony over once more, "He's got a tear in his liver and...yep it's bleeding again..." Cal said out loud, Ethan nodding his agreement.

Rob, sensing that what they were talking about was serious, led Lily towards the door and pushed her through it, into the waiting arms of Connie.

While he was doing that, Cal took the opportunity to talk to Ethan once more, "What exactly do you think you can do here Eth?"

Ethan glanced up at him anxiously, "The only thing that I can do, patch him up and hope for the best!"

Cal sighed and shook his head, "That's a hell of a risk..."

"The last ten minutes has been a risk..."

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Lily safe at least, now all he had to do was to get his brother to safety.

"Thank you Rob - now I'm only going to be able to patch Tony up..."

"But you said..." Rob growled, his expression turning murderous once more.

Ethan walked up to him as Cal got some equipment ready, his gaze not leaving his brother in case he was needed.

"Rob, I understand how you must be feeling with your brother in danger..."

"How can you understand? You're just saying that!" Rob hurled back at him.

"I do understand, because, you see, my big brother is in danger too...from you," Ethan told him quietly as he turned towards Cal.

Rob looked shocked, "He's your brother?"

"Yes. My older brother. I understand that you don't want anything to happen to Tony and I feel that way about Cal - but we can only patch him up in here - he needs to go to theatre!"

"Ethan, pressure is dropping!" Cal told him, "Heart rate decreasing - if we're going to do something, then we need to do it now!"

"I can't go to prison," Rob cried fearfully, his eyes filling with tears.

"Let's worry about that when Tony is well again," Ethan told him as he put on a fresh pair of gloves.

Ten anxious minutes later, Ethan had sewn up the tear in Tony's liver and they had managed to get him stable again after a few rocky minutes. As they put on some dressings, they noticed that Rob had calmed down a little, "How does it feel knowing that your little brother has got a better job than you?" Rob asked Cal, who rolled his eyes once more. Ethan couldn't help but smirk - if only he knew.

"I suppose I just have to live with it," Cal joked, but he then turned serious, "Actually, I'm really proud of what he's achieved - and I hope that one day I can be half the doctor he is."

Ethan could feel his eyes stinging, "You already are," he told him as he took hold of Rob's arm and led him to his own brother's side, who had already started opening his eyes, "What have you got in your hand?" Tony whispered as his eyes kept drifting shut.

"I needed to get you seen," Rob explained.

Tony lifted his hand to weakly clasp his brother's wrist, "You stupid...Give it to the doc," he told him. Rob dropped his head in shame as he handed the gun to Ethan.

As soon as he did, two police officers and the detectives swooped into the room, closely followed by a couple of porters and the real surgeon. As they wheeled Tony out to surgery, the police began to handcuff Rob. Ethan quickly went up to them to hand the gun to them, "Please don't restrain him. He was just worried about his brother, he needs to be with him. Can you at least wait until his brother is out of surgery. I'm sure you'll stay with him."

The police officer looked to the doctors then to the young man, who now had tears falling down his face, and nodded his agreement. He then led the young man out of Resus to follow his brother.

Suddenly, Resus was silent. Both Ethan and Cal were stood stock still, not really sure what to do with themselves.

Before he knew what was happening, Ethan felt the adrenaline leave his body and coupled with the fact that he had not eaten or drunk anything for many hours, caused his legs to stop supporting him. He could feel the strength leaving his body. He began to try to get to one of the beds but he knew he wouldn't make it. Suddenly, he felt arms around him to steady him. He looked up to see his brothers face, full of concern, "Ethan?"

He sat down on a bed, "I'm ok. Adrenaline crash...plus I haven't eaten in a while..." he laid back and closed his eyes, taking in deep breaths.

He felt the bed dip and he opened his eyes to see his brother sat tiredly next to him, holding a bottle of a full sugar fizzy drink, "Drink this for now," he told him quietly.

"Are you alright?" Ethan asked his brother, watching him intently.

Cal ran a hand through his hair and nodded, "And Lily?"

"Yeah, Mrs Beauchamp has sent her home, but she's fine and very grateful to you," he told him, smiling proudly, "Although I don't know what possessed you to barge your way into a room with a gunman, pretending to be a surgeon! I couldn't believe it when I saw you. I still can't quite decided whether I'm proud of you or whether I should lock you up for ever to keep you safe!"

"You're welcome," Ethan chuckled, but soon grew serious again, "You were in danger...that's all that mattered to me!" He leaned his head back on the pillows once more, dragging in a deep breath, " God, what a night..."

"You're telling me, " his brother agreed.

A couple of hours later, after rehydrating and eating, Ethan and Cal made their way out of the hospital. Although Ethan was due to start his next shift in five hours, he wanted to try to get some sleep in his own bed. As they exited the building, they saw Rob being led to a police car. Ethan trotted over to him, "Rob, how's Tony?"

The young man raised a tear stained face to the doctor, making Ethan's stomach contract, fearing the worst, "It was touch and go, but they said he's going to be ok eventually."

"That's good news," Ethan smiled as Cal joined him.

"You're not really a surgeon, are you?"

Ethan looked embarrassed, "No I'm not. I'm sorry I lied to you, but like you I was prepared to do anything to save my big brother."

 **That's it. Not sure about this chapter - I think it goes on a bit. Hope it wasn't to tedious. Thank you for reading.**

 **On another note, come on all you Cal/Ethan fans, let's get lots of stories up to fill in the next two dull weeks without our fix!**


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